Mute {Luke Hemmings AU}

3

A few minutes later, Luke and I were off the bus, and to my surprise, he had not stopped talking after he quickly figured out that I was not one to use many words. He talked fast, nearly too fast for me to understand, but I listened anyways because his words and voice made my head spin. It wasn't a bad feeling - it was a good kind of head spin. I don't usually enjoy headaches like these, but this one felt nice because 1. it was nice to be talked to, 2. I didn't want to shut him up, 3. my head has never spun like this before, and 4. it felt indescribably magnificent.

I feel confident to have already made a friend as we snake our way through the crowds of students. But then I feel snickers and glares being shot towards me, causing me to stick my head back into my shell.

A girl waves Luke down, and as he begins to walk towards her direction, he glances back at me and says, "Come and meet one of my friends. I'm sure she'll love you."

I nod and trust his words, trailing behind him like a lost puppy. We meet with a girl who hugs Luke a little too tight to be just a friend, and Luke introduces me to her. "Clara, this is my friend Adelaide. We met on the bus this morning," he motions towards me awkwardly. "I think she's knew."

I'm a friend.

I smile awkwardly and stare at the ground, afraid to look at her in the eyes.

She looks me up and down and decides whether or not she wants to be kind to a girl that wears nearly all black and doesn't speak. She purses her lips and says, "Hi. Adelaide." Then she immediately turns to Luke - her long blonde hair nearly whipping me in the face in the process of doing it - and grabs his arm. "Come on Luke. Ash wanted to meet us in the library for our study period, remember?"

It looks like Clara decided that she would most definitely not be kind to a girl that wears all black and doesn't speak.

Luke nods yes as Clara begins to drag him away. "I'll uh...See you around, okay? Go to the office and tell them you're new. They should give you your class schedule." He explains to me. Then he is yanked away by Clara, and disappears from my sight.

••

I eventually find my way to the office, where a wrinkly old woman greets me and hands me my class schedule. After, she has a very young girl to give me a quick tour of where my classes would be.

Her tiny curls in ponytails bounce each time she takes a step, and each time she takes a step, her pink, velcro sneakers would light up as they hit the ground. When she speaks, I can see a gap in her teeth and she holds a little purse in her hand with a stuffed dog in it, swinging it back and forth as she talks to me slowly.

"My name is Molly. And I will be your tour guide today," she says as she reads off a sheet of paper in a monotone voice. "What's your name?"

I say nothing and she asks again, but then replies with. "I'll just call you... Ruby." I crinkle my nose at the sound of my new name but allow her to call me by it anyways. Molly then puts her paper in her dog-purse and begins to walk - skip, rather - me through the intricate hallways of my new high school. But instead of telling me where my classes were, we simply walked passed them as she told me a story of what she did yesterday. Or the day before that. Or what happened on her fifth birthday. Or what happened the day she got her pet goldfish.

Soon enough I learn that Molly is homeschooled and usually spends some of her days at Astoria High School because both her parents work part-time at the school.

Just as we circle around the large cafeteria to get back to the office again, the bell rings. I squint at my schedule and begin to make my way over to the classroom, but am stopped by Molly who is tugging my sweater. She grabs my hand, squeezes it tightly and says, "Can you walk me back to the office Ruby?"

Just as she says this, a custodian trudges over to us with a smile. Molly squeezes my hand tighter and awkwardly hides behind my butt. He holds his broom with a tight, clenched fist and says, "Hey sweetie." He smiles again.

"Hi dad," she whispers behind me. Molly comes out from hiding and exclaims, "RubyandIwerejustgoingtotheoffice." She shuffles her feet and looks down at her light up sneakers. "AndRubyhastogotoclass.RightRuby?"

"R-Right." I say in the most timid voice. Molly drags me through the cafeteria doors, and I can feel her father's now dark and cold eyes following us down the corridor.

Hi to anyone who is actually reading this. I'm sorry I haven't updated. I feel really bad but I couldn't think of anything to write. Like I know the whole plot of the story and all but I just didn't know how to write this chapter. So sorry if it sucks. I'm going to write the next chapter now so be prepared for another update soon. :)